Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction ❯ The Silent Prince, Perfect Collection 2 ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 41

"Geez, Goten! This stuff is easy! How can you get it wrong?!"

"You know I suck at English, Trunks. I just don't get it."

"Here, let me help. Okay, this sentence says 'I want him to do his best.' Now, what's the subject?"

"English."

"What?!"

"English is what we're working on."

"Jesus Christ, Goten…"

"What? That's the answer, right?"

As the boys worked on their homework in the living room, Pan and Bra watched their favorite cartoon show on TV, and Bulma was on the phone.

"I just need a new window pane," she explained, looking at the window Vegeta broke earlier, "that's all. What? No, cost is fine, I have money…"

Goten looked up at the broken window. He and Vegeta were arguing that very spot, and Goten remembered the window to be very much intact, and Genji just below it.

Genji…

"Hey, where's Genji?" Goten asked Trunks. The purple-haired boy shrugged.

"His friends are outside, looking for him. I think he's still hiding. Here." He handed over his finished English paper, and got to work on his math. "And don't copy it word for word this time, or you'll get us in trouble again."

"Okay."

"What was that I heard?!" Bulma yelled just as she hung up the phone. "Are you copying papers?!"

Trunks and Goten stared at each other in panic. Then, Trunks put on an act similar to his father's.

"Goten!" he shouted, suddenly standing up and pointing his finger at his friend. "How dare you copy off my homework! You're going to get us in trouble again, you country bum!"

"Eeek!" Goten yelped, hiding under the couch. "Don't hurt me, Trunks!" Bulma chuckled lightly behind her hand, buying the fib.

"Cool it, Trunks." She calmed. "Sometimes, you act just like your father."

"Sorry, mom." Trunks moaned, sitting back down.

"Speaking of which, where is Vegeta?"

"In the gravity chamber. Where else?"

"Okay. I need a word with him." She began to walk away.

"What about? The police coming here?"

"That…" Bulma nodded. "And about the window. That's going out of his wallet." She walked out of the room. Trunks waited until she was completely out of earshot before turning to Goten.

"Goten, get out of the couch. I didn't mean it."

"That was scary…" Goten whimpered as he sat back at Trunk's side. "I thought you were going to kill me or something…"

"Shut up and start copying." Trunks ordered, getting back to his math. "We have to get this done before dinner, or we get the push-up treatment again."

/|\

The sheriff once again interrupted Arangami.

"Dr. Hojo?"

"Yes, sheriff?"

"There's a phone call for you in the back office. He says he's your boss."

Arangami drew in a frightened breath.

Boss? As in…master?

"Thank you, sheriff." Arangami bowed slightly. "This will not take long. Any news of DragonLore's whereabouts?"

"There's been many leads, but they were all dead ends. I have units patrolling the outskirts of the city. If he tries to leave, we'll know about it."

"Thank you again. Your men are working so hard on this, what with their terrible wages…"

"Anything to protect the people from monsters like DragonLore!"

Arangami nodded and headed into a back office. There was no one in the room, and the phone was off its hook. Arangami gulped once, then locked the door, covered all the windows, and turned the lights out. He stared at the phone, as if almost afraid to touch it. His master…the man who had total control of his life and death…one screw up by Arangami and the ninja was history.

Mustering some mettle, he wrapped his fingers around the phone and put it to his ear.

"I am here." He answered quietly.

"Is it true?" the voice on the other line growled. "The Yuzuha Temple has been destroyed?!"

"Yes, master." Arangami nodded. "The boy released Cell's power, and the foundation crumbled. The entire temple is in ruins. Everyone inside was killed."

"And Fujiwara…"

Arangami bit his lip in worry.

"The high priest is dead as well."

His master roared in anger on the other line. Arangami flinched, holding the phone from his face. Then, a thought came to Arangami.

I was in the temple before it collapsed. How could I have survived? Someone carried me out, I remember waking up outside…But who? Perhaps one of the boy's friends…not DragonLore. I wanted him dead, and I tried to kill him. Why would he spare my life?

After the master quieted down, Arangami brought the phone back to his face.

"As for the boy…"

"Ah, yes…the boy…" the master purred. "I have seen the news reports. And you were the one who started the search?"

"I was." The ninja answered in pride. "I told them nothing but the truth, and paid them with gold." He took a small, gold nugget out of his pocket, and held it up to his own eyes. "I have the police force wrapped around my finger, master."

"And there has been no luck in finding him?"

"The best lead I heard was a call that claimed he was at the Capsule building, but he escaped before the police arrived. He is still somewhere in the city."

"Continue the search. Do not give up until he is in your clutches."

"Yes, master. And I will make his death very slow and painful."

"No."

Arangami blinked.

"Master?"

"I will kill him. Bring him to me once you have him. I will see that your father is avenged, Arangami."

"But, master…if I may…why do you want to personally kill the boy?"

The master growled.

"I want to finish what I had begun…with his mother."

Arangami stifled a gasp.

"You're the one…who killed his mother?"

/|\

"18…19…20…21…"

Vegeta was growling as he counted. Even at twenty times Earth's normal gravity, Genji was still managing to stand. The boy was certainly finding it difficult, however. He was pulling several muscles, and one rib had cracked because of the pressure, and his sweating body was dampening his clothes…

He looked like he was lifting a mountain onto his shoulders.

Finally, the boy was standing up straight, and was using all his might to stand up. Vegeta stopped counting and snarled.

"This is impossible! You can't do this to me! You can't…" He stopped when Genji looked at him. His eyes were full of tears…tears that begged for mercy. But Vegeta didn't see pain in the boy's eyes…

…He saw the eyes of a man who died long ago…

Cell…those eyes…I'll never forget them! Those are his eyes!

Vegeta could see Cell's smirk, hear his laugh, and felt the need to destroy him for all the pain he caused…

He killed my son…He killed Kakerotto! That son of a bitch has no right to live!

"You bastard!" he shouted at Genji, pushing more buttons on the console. "Take this!"

Suddenly, a vision of images blipped in Genji's minds eye.

…He saw Yume running right for him…

…Then he saw Arangami's eyes narrow at something…

…Then he saw the monitor's screen scroll from 20 to 500…

Then the vision instantly vanished as he was pounded into the floor so hard, he dented the tiles into a small crater. He absolutely could not move; the gravity was too strong and he was in too much pain. Vegeta walked over to him.

"Forget about your thirty seconds." He announced. "Even I have trouble in this gravity." He walked towards Genji with a murderous grin. "But I won't have trouble with you, boy. Oh no, no trouble at all. I'm going to enjoy this…"

Genji clutched his teeth tightly. Vegeta was going to kill him, and he couldn't defend himself. Memories of his abused childhood came back to him, and tears were streaking from his eyes.

Guardian! Protect me!

<Damn…even I'm useless in this gravity…and the demon is loving every minute of this! Here, I'll give you extra stamina. At least it won't hurt as much.>

Genji sighed painfully just before Vegeta picked him up by the back of his shirt, and held him up. There were a few seconds of tense pause…

…then Genji felt Vegeta's fist slam into his stomach.

Then he felt it again…and again…and again…and again…